Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Update on the Implementation of the Register of Overseas Entities

Lord Callanan: I welcome the opportunity to update Parliament on the progress the Government is making implementing the Register of Overseas Entities, six weeks after the expedited Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 received Royal Assent.The Act sets out measures to tackle economic crime, by creating a Register of the beneficial owners of overseas entities which own or buy property in the UK, as well as measures on unexplained wealth orders and sanctions.Since the legislation received Royal Assent, the Government has been working at pace to ensure the Register is in place as soon as reasonably practicable. There are two main aspects to this work - the technical development of the Register itself and the establishment of the appropriate legal framework through secondary legislation. An Implementation Group comprising officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Companies House and the UK Land Registries has been established and is driving forward delivery across both aspects.On developing the Register, Companies House digital design teams are making strong progress in building the Register for operational readiness. They have been working at pace alongside the three Land Registries to have systems and processes in place to identify and capture information on overseas entities who buy, sell or transfer property in the UK. This work will ensure that a first phase of the Register can be operational as soon as possible capturing new transactions from the moment the Register is live, enabling those in scope already owning land in the UK to Register, and capturing disposals of assets between 28 February 2022 and the end of the six month transitional period. This important amendment introduced during passage of the Act will ensure we have information on any relevant property sales taking place before the Register is operational. Further steps will be taken over the course of the transitional period to enhance the functionality of the Register.On legislation, as set out in the Act, a number of important aspects of the Register need to be defined through secondary legislation before the Register can come into force. These include technical details of verification requirements to ensure the Register is sufficiently robust; the protection regime for beneficial owners and managing officers that wish to have their details protected from public disclosure due to a risk of serious harm or violence; and mandating the digital delivery of information to Companies House.In the weeks since Royal Assent, good progress has been made on finalising the policy on these areas of detail. These details are vital to get right if the Register is to work as intended. Engagement with expert stakeholders, such as the UK’s law societies, on technical aspects of the Register and the supporting legislation is ongoing and we welcome their constructive input to ensure the Register works as intended across the UK. Drafting the actual regulations and accompanying guidance will begin imminently and we will lay the regulations for Parliamentary scrutiny as soon as possible.

Ministry of Justice

Judicial Conduct Investigations Office Annual Report 2020–2021

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Dominic Raab) has made the following Written Statement:'With the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice, I will today publish the fifteenth annual report of the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO).The JCIO supports the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor in our joint statutory responsibility for judicial discipline.The judiciary comprises approximately 21,000 individuals serving across a range of jurisdictions. Over the past year, the JCIO received 1,236 complaints against judicial office-holders. 53 investigations resulted in disciplinary action.I have placed copies of the report in the libraries of both Houses, the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office. Copies are also available online at: https://www.complaints.judicialconduct.gov.uk/reportsandpublications/

Ministry of Defence

The Armed Forces Incentivisation Review

Baroness Goldie: My hon. Friend the Minister for Defence People and Veterans (Leo Docherty MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.I am pleased to announce that the Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Mr Rick Haythornthwaite to chair an independent review of our Service personnel’s terms and conditions.The review, which will be known as the Haythornthwaite Review of Armed Forces Incentivisation, is a commitment published in the Defence Command Paper (March 2021). It aims to modernise financial and non-financial elements of the Offer to Service personnel so that these are commensurate with the ways in which the Armed Forces are expected to change and operate in future, as set out in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. By modernising both elements of the Offer, the review aims to improve how Defence recruits, incentivises and retains the skills it requires, and to better reflect people’s changing expectations of work and ways of living in the 21st Century. The review is expected to conclude by spring 2023, when a report will be submitted to the Secretary of State for Defence, who will determine the Government response in due course.Rick has established an impressive executive and non-executive career across a diverse range of businesses within the private and third sectors. He has a variety of experience as a Chair and a highly tuned strategic perspective. I look forward to working closely with him on his review.

Cabinet Office

Public Bodies Reform

Lord True: My Rt Hon Friend the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency (the Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP) has today made the following statement:I am pleased to announce that, today, we are publishing guidance documents that will underpin a new series of public body reviews.The review programme and associated guidance delivers against the commitments made in the Declaration on Government Reform to increase the effectiveness of arm’s length bodies, making government work better for the citizens it serves.Public bodies are a critical delivery arm of the government. They work in tandem with their departments to provide services to the public. The pandemic has considerably stretched public bodies. There have been some outstanding success stories, such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs delivery of the furlough scheme, or the vaccination programme through the National Health Service.The fiscal challenge this country faces is the greatest since the Second World War. Arm’s length bodies, which are classified as such by the Cabinet Office, now spend over £220 billion a year, and employ over 300,000 people. The National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee published reports last year demonstrating the need for the centre of government to go further in supporting public bodies to succeed.This is why Her Majesty’s Treasury and the Cabinet Office established the Public Bodies Reform Programme last year. Its mission is for accountable, efficient and effective public bodies that are fit to deliver the government’s priorities. This will mean decision making is restored to democratically accountable ministers, a reduced burden on the taxpayer and greater focus on every pound spent by public bodies. It is expected that the average public body review delivers efficiency savings of at least 5%.Public body reviewsThe Public Bodies Reform Programme have developed new guidance documents to provide information to sponsor departments, public bodies, review teams and lead reviewers on the undertaking of the reviews of public bodies. The guidance is built on lessons learnt from previous review programmes and has been developed with the understanding that the public body landscape is varied.Departments will lead these reviews. The Government is clear that scarce resources should be focused where they are needed most, therefore it will be for departments to prioritise which bodies are reviewed and when. By undertaking reviews we can reassure the public that the government is taking every possible step to level up our country, reduce the burden on the public purse and deliver first in class public services.The guidance documents will be available on GOV.UK. We will seek to review and update the guidance each year.

Department for International Trade

Trade Update

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade (Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP) has today made the following statement.On Thursday 21st April, I met His Excellency, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where we reached an agreement in principle that the UK will liberalise all tariffs on imports of Ukrainian origin under the UK-Ukraine Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement. This follows the commitment made by the Prime Minister in Kyiv that the UK would step up our economic support. This agreement in principle is in direct response to a request from the Government of Ukraine and is part of the UK’s commitment to their economic stability. Both countries are now completing the necessary processes to rapidly bring this into force.The UK Government offered this policy on a nonreciprocal basis, with no expectation or ask of the Ukrainian Government in return. However, the Government of Ukraine has confirmed that their preference is to match our approach and they will fully liberalise their tariffs under the FTA with the UK, in order to maximise the economic benefit for Ukraine and to help secure their economic future.Key details include:Liberalising all tariffs under the Free Trade Agreement to zero on all goods originating from Ukraine which will provide economic support in their hour of need.Our analysis shows that the average tariff on imports from Ukraine not already fully liberalised is currently around 22%. Removing these tariffs provides broad and deep support for the people of Ukraine.In the unlikely event of a surge of Ukrainian imports into the UK market, I have put in place a broad safeguard mechanism to protect domestic industry.These changes will be for an initial period of 12 months but include a simple process to agree an extension with Ukraine.The Government will shortly lay an SI to amend our domestic legislation accordingly.This approach is leading the world in how we support Ukraine, and I will encourage trade ministers in other countries to follow our direction. With that in mind, I will soon convene trade ministers from the G20 and other nations to continue the international effort to put pressure on Putin and support Ukraine.On Thursday 21st April, we announced that the UK will bolster its sanctions against Russia by expanding the list of products facing import bans and increasing tariffs. With these new measures, the UK will be imposing import tariffs and bans on over £1bn of Russian goods. The new sanctions will include import bans on silver and high-end products from Russia including caviar, and tariff increases of 35 percentage points on a range of products from Russia and Belarus, including diamonds and rubber. These new measures follow on from the tariff increases imposed on goods from Russia and Belarus on 25 March, and a ban on the import of many iron and steel products from Russia on 14 April. Legislation will be laid in due course to implement these measures. We encourage all importers that use Russian imports to source alternative supplies. As with all sanctions, these measures will be kept under review.Today, we also announce additional sanctions to continue putting pressure on Putin’s regime. These sanctions include expanding our existing strong export prohibitions and closing loopholes to ensure that the UK is not selling Russia products and technology which could be used to repress the heroic people of Ukraine.As I made clear to Ambassador Prystaiko, the UK will do everything in its power to support Ukraine’s fight against Putin’s brutal and unprovoked invasion and ensure its long-term security and prosperity. We stand unwaveringly with Ukraine in this ongoing fight and will tirelessly work to ensure Ukraine survives and thrives as a free and sovereign nation.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Media Policy Update

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has today written to Newsquest Media Group and Archant Community Media, to inform them that my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for DCMS, is ‘minded to’ issue an Intervention Notice. This relates to concerns the Secretary of State has that there may be public interest considerations - as set out in section 58 of Enterprise Act 2002 - that are relevant to the recent acquisition of Archant Media by Newsquest Media and that these concerns warrant further investigation.A ‘minded to’ letter has therefore been issued to the parties on one public interest ground specified in section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002:(2B) The need for, to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable, a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers in each market for newspapers in the United Kingdom or a part of the United KingdomIt is important to note that the Secretary of State has not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage. In line with the statutory guidance on media mergers, the ‘minded to’ letter invites further representations in writing from the parties and gives them until 29 April to respond. The Secretary of State will then make her final decision, which needs to be made on a quasi-judicial basis, on whether to issue an Intervention Notice.If the Secretary of State for DCMS decides to issue an Intervention Notice, the next stage would be for Ofcom to assess and report to her on the public interest concerns and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess and report to her on whether a relevant merger situation has been created and any impact this may have on competition. Following these reports, the Secretary of State will decide whether to refer the matter for a more detailed investigation by the CMA under section 45 of the Enterprise Act 2002.The Secretary of State will keep Parliament updated on progress with this media merger case.